I Can Tell (When You're Telling Lies)
John Wesley Harding
from the album "The Name Above The Title"
Key: G major
~~~~~~~~~~~~
D G C D C G \
I can tell when you're telling lies; |
C Am D |
I can see it in your tired eyes. |
G C D C G |
I can tell when you're telling lies; \ CHORUS
C Am D / ~~~~~~
I can see it in your lack of surprise. |
Em C Am D |
I can see just where the truth doesn't lie, |
Em C Am D |
Watching you cut through the bind that ties. /
Em
Once upon a time, a story with a happy end,
C Am C D
But that's all in the past, that's all around the bend,
Em
You can't appease me now, those stupid things you said,
C Am C D
And you can't please me now, and we can't start again.
D C
There's too much history, there's no clean sheets,
D C
When I get to hear his story it puts my feet to sleep;
Am D D Em
It's automatic nothing 'bout a heart in a rage,
C Am C D
Murdered by some cartoon villain who ripped out the last page.
< C H O R U S >
Em
Happy ever after, prince apparent and his bride;
C Am C D
All his disarming charm and her unfaithful sighs.
Em
He's scouting for success, and she's his girl guide.
C Am C D
The day the die was cast, it was the day I died.
D C
Now your hits are up for grabs, now the chips are down,
D C
You could be jetting with the set instead of with that clown
Am D D Em
You wanted to be on a bridge; all bridges should be burned;
C Am C D
Sometimes you must re-cross and that's something you've never learned.
< C H O R U S >
B7
There are some tricks that you can't pull,
C Cmaj7 Am Am Am7 Am7
I mean the wool that is over my eyes.
D
That's what happens when looking for love
G C D
Becomes a game of I spy.
C Am \
I know you're combing someone's hair |
D Em |
Or someone's soothing you; \ DRUMS
C Cmaj7 Am / ONLY
A lie may well fool someone else |
C D |
But it tells the truth about you to you. So /
G C D C G
I can tell when you're telling lies;
C Am D
I can see it in your tired eyes.
G C D C G
I can tell when you're telling lies;
C Am D
I can see it in your lack of surprise;
G C D C G
I can tell when you're telling lies;
C Am
I can see it in your tired eyes.
G C D C G
I can tell where your talent lies;
C Am D
I can see it in your lack of surprise;
Em C Am D
I can see just where the truth doesn't lie
Em C Am D G
Watching you cut through the bind that ties.
========================
CHORDS:
~~~~~~
G chord D chord
e||---|---|-o-| G e||---|-o-|---| F#
B||---|---|---| B B||---|---|-o-| D
G||---|---|---| G G||---|-o-|---| A
D||---|---|---| D D||---|---|---| D
A||---|-o-|---| B A||---|---|---| A
E||---|---|-o-| G E||---|-x-|---| either use thumb on 2nd fret
or don't play bass-E string
C chord Am chord
e||---|---|---| E e||---|---|---| E
B||-o-|---|---| C B||-o-|---|---| C
G||---|---|---| G G||---|-o-|---| A
D||---|-o-|---| E D||---|-o-|---| E
A||---|---|-o-| C A||---|---|---| A
E||---|---|---| E E||---|---|---| E
Em chord B7 chord
e||---|---|---| E e||---|-o-|---| F#
B||---|---|---| B B||---|---|---| B
G||---|---|---| G G||---|-o-|---| A
D||---|-o-|---| E D||-o-|---|---| D#
A||---|-o-|---| B A||---|-o-|---| B
E||---|---|---| E E||---|-x-|---| either use thumb on 2nd fret
or don't play bass-E string
Cmaj7 chord Am7 chord
e||---|---|---| E e||---|---|---| E
B||---|---|---| B B||-o-|---|---| C
G||---|---|---| G G||---|---|---| G
D||---|-o-|---| E D||---|-o-|---| E
A||---|---|-o-| C A||---|---|---| A
E||---|---|---| E E||---|---|---| E
N.B. Don't try playing a G chord the way it's shown in the photo in the sleeve
notes of The Name Above The Title!!
Playing Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Play the opening D chord before you launch into the song.
2. Learn the rhythm of the part that goes "the bind that ties" and strum the
triplet in time with the words.
3. You may wish to change the chords for the equivalent parts of the verse to
"It's automatic nothing 'bout a heart in a rage" so that they become
(C, Am, D, Em) instead of (Am, D, D, Em) as in the above transcription.
4. I've included chords for the last verse where it goes to drums only for
those of you who are unaccompanied. These are best if strummed lightly
and once each.
5. After the `drums only' bit, don't forget to say "So" before you move on to
the final chorus section. On the other hand, don't wet yourself if you
forget!
6. The words in a few places could easily be heard as many things. I think
this is pretty much as Wes sings it, but "telling" does sound a lot like
"talent", what about "unfaithful SIZE (?)", "you wanted to be UNABRIDGED",
or "sometimes you must be CROSSED"?
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